The area of Heraion, near the seaside town of Loutraki, is maybe my favourite place near Athens. I discovered it out of luck. One day I was looking at the map of Attika and the adjacent regions and I saw Vouliagmeni Lake, which is located in that area. I decided to go and check and I fell in love with the area. The name Heraion comes from an ancient temple to Hera that exists there.
I have been there numerous times, either for swimming or just for the heck of it. The financial situation when I was unemployed and the strange working hours afterwards meant that I didn't manage to go there for a really long time. Recently, I got involved with astrophotography. As I was checking for dark places near Athens, I saw that this area was quite dark; not perfect but dark enough. This was a great excuse to go again after all this time and check the situation first hand. I went once but I wasn't satisfied with the location I picked. A week later, I called a friend and we made our way there again.
These are some of the photos I took during those two afternoons at Heraion.
It's Spring so let's begin with a flower in an olive grove.
The barks of the old olive trees can take interesting shapes.
An old car left to rot at the side of the road
The area of the ancient temple to Hera
An unknown girl became my model without knowing it. This is called an unsuspecting protagonist.
The sun sets near the lighthouse
Another unsuspecting protagonist
The night sky. As I wrote earlier, it isn't perfect but it is dark enough
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